Emprise
by RevisitedBlaze
Summary: Takes place around 1752 with a demon hunter named Cian, instead of ruin the whole plot you'll have to read the rest. Somehow Cian ends up in the '60s and then eventually into modern time. Faith, Spike, and Cian join together to tackle extra evil baddies
1. Session 1 Defaced

-Emprise-  
Session 1 - Defaced  
1752 AD   
It was a cold, foggy day, the hills covered in dew, the fog so think it was almost impossible to see your own hand in front of your face. A tall man, about 6'2", dressed in a long, dirt stained brown duster, heavy boots with steel toes, and a brown leather fedora stood in the midst of the rolling white fog. A stalk of grain was placed between his lips, his face a somber expression as he traversed through the mist as though he had done it many times before, seeming to know the way perfectly.  
  
The man unbuckled the thick sheet of metal that stretched around the back of his neck, over his collar bone and around his chin, taking a wine sized bottle to his lips and bending his head back as he drank from it. His pale eyelids closed, the hand around the green bottle was gloved in black gauntlet, the other remained bare. He brought the bottle away with a long inhale, then tied the glass bottle to the side of his belt.   
  
If anyone saw the man, they would clearly see he wasn't normal. His face was rough, pale, and left unkept for some time, smears of dirt and dried blood made their way up the sides of his cheeks, his forehead and even over his chin. His eyes were a cobalt blue, much darker than most. He latched the protective armor around his neck and continued forward, hearing the sound of rolling rocks somewhere in the fog. A smile came to his dried, almost purple lips.   
  
The man walked forward at a normal pace, hearing heavy, fast paced foot steps from behind him. His heart beat at a regular pace, his body remained calm, there was absolutely no fear from inside him. The thing approaching him had to be huge, too large to be an animal, too fast to be one too. He turned quickly, slid a hand under his jacket and to his belt, pulling a Blunderbuss pistol from his side and firing into the fog. The pistol rang out loudly, the fog parted suddenly and a huge animal with spiked fur and beady yellow eyes jumped over the pistol armed man.  
He turned quickly, twirling the pistol around his index finger, getting an eye full of the animal before him.  
  
It had four legs, all of which carried long quills around the back of the ankles, it's skin was a dark red. The long quills that sprang out from it's tough crimson flesh was a dark gray, it's eyes darting around wildly, the pupils constantly changing size. The huge beast growled, it's voice deep and shaky. It glared forward, two fangs jutting out from it's mouth and over it's upper lip, they almost looked like tusks. The man tipped his fedora.   
  
"Hello lad. You must be the infamous demon who's been goin' about killing the villagers." He pushed his fedora back, watched the creature but got no response. With a click, the tall man raised the pistol. The demon hissed and lunged forward, the man fired and the bullet just scratched the thick hide of the creature, bouncing off of it and into the grass. The huge demon grasped it's thick claws around the man's broad shoulders, pushing him to the ground. Hot drool came dripping down from the beast's mouth, running down the Irish man's cheek and across his lips.   
  
The man hit the back of his boot against his ankle, a dagger shot out from the end of his boot and he threw it forward, stabbing the creature's thick stomach and spilling it's blood over his pants. He pushed downward and sliced a huge gash from the creature's stomach to it's tail. The beast moaned and with a push from his boots, the victor of the fight knocked the demon onto its side.  
  
"Not much fight in that one. Heh, dry shite."   
  
The man picked himself off and rubbed one of his shoulders, stashing his gun away under his belt. He headed through the mist and down a rather steep hill, he narrowly avoided sharp rocks that jutted out from the hillside. The land had been cast in thick fog since the demons started arriving in Ireland. Ireland had been relatively free of demons, only a few Vampires roamed the green hills and scarce villages. This was usually because of the clans, they had been trained expertly to fend off demons. For the most part, they really had no idea what they were fighting.   
  
Such clans had been dropping rapidly in numbers, demons and Vampires scourged the land, very few villages were left untouched by the vicious fists and fangs of the monster hordes.   
But then again, due to all this chaos, Cian was able to make a living. He was a past member of the Genorma clan, then went on to become a demon bounty hunter of sorts. Wealth was easy to maintain in these days and ages by killing "beasts of the black", as the people liked to refer to them as.  
  
Cian found a comfortable spot upon a smooth rock and sat upon it, placing his wrists on his knees as he peered through the thick fog, taking a swig from the large bottle he had at his side every now and then. It never got old for him, killing demons that is, the rush made him feel so much younger. It was about the only thing he had worth living for anyways, education was not one of his strong suits. and he wasn't the greatest artist of sorts either. The corners of his lips formed a little smile. He sighed and moved off the rock, running a hand through the long stalks of grass at his side.   
  
His smile soon returned as he arrived at the tall wooden gates of a very remote village perched upon a cliffside, which was jutting out into the ocean. He tapped his gloved fist against the damp wood, a voice soon came out from behind the gate.   
  
"Who is it?" It was a man's voice, there wasn't much charm to it.   
  
"Demon hunter, just come along for a night's rest is all."  
  
There was a silent wait before the gate slowly opened, revealing the muddy streets, tall brick houses with hay roofs, packs of pigs and the poorly dressed peasants living inside the village. "This town's a right dump." Cian smirked, not caring much for the mucky scenery of the place. He found an Inn, which was pretty small, but fairly well built. At least it was constructed with something other than hay over it's roof. He turned the copper door knob and stepped inside, an older man with gray hair and pale skin quickly came to him.  
  
"Welcome. Would you like a room?"  
  
"Yeah, whatever you've got that's cheap."  
  
The man nodded and escorted Cian down a hall, water dripping through cracks in the stone ceiling. The man noticed the various weapons and armors under and over Cian's clothing.   
  
"Demon hunter?"  
  
"Well aren't ye a Dab hand. yih, I'm 'bout the only one left."  
  
"Then you must stay free of charge."  
  
"Come on, free? What do you ye really want from me?"  
  
The older man came to a door and pushed it open, walking into the small cold stone room behind the rickety wooden door. He stood by the door way and let Cian walk inside. "There's a man, no not a man, he comes at night, tortures and brands his victims. Sometimes... They come back, vicious and heartless, their faces.."  
  
Cian waved his hand as he sat on the small cot located against a dank wall. "Sounds like a Vampire to me. Killin' a Vampire isn't a cushty job ya know."  
  
"I'll let you stay here, we'll feed you, anything, just.. rid him of this land."  
  
"Just give me some gargle and money, and I'll kill your fanged fellah."  
  
The old man quickly replied with a nod, walking out from the room and off to get the things Cian had requested. Cian rubbed his shoulder and closed his eyes, feeling warm blood stain his finger tips. The demon must of cut open his shoulder earlier, he clenched his teeth and started working on removing his armor. Once done with the process, he took both his duster and his shirt off. He rooted through the pockets of his leather duster, grabbing hold of a tiny bottle of fragrant ointment. He covered the long, jagged gash with the liquid and clenched his teeth, the pain in his shoulder becoming at least ten times worse, it almost felt as though his very shoulder was on fire. The pain slowly passed.   
  
Cian moved over to the dresser across from his cot, there was a few letters written on faded parchment, a bottle of woman's perfume with a peacock feather standing out from the opening of the bottle, and a golden mirror. "The ol' man's into more than just managing a Inn." He moved one of the dresser drawers open and took a finely woven tunic from it, pulling it down over him. It fit fairly well.   
  
"What else do you know about the Vampie?" Cian called out as he put his duster on.  
  
The old man arrived back at the door with a round, short bottle of ale and a loaf of bread, he set the food down on a night stand next to the bed. " He has been seen with a woman, she calls him Angelus. Not many have lived to report anything further." The old man moved into a rocking chair, sighing softly. " I see you helped yourself to one of my tunics. "  
  
"Yih. So what's your name old man?"  
  
"Call me Kennedy." The old man gave a soft smile.  
  
"Okay Kennedy, I'm goin' to go look around for Angel and the bird that tags along with him. You can pay me when I kill them."   
  
"Aren't you weak? You look sickly." The old man pushed himself out of the chair slowly.  
  
Cian had seen many of these educated types, speaking with their fancy tongues. It didn't impress him, he was sure none of the "educated" knew what evil really lurked about and how to stop it. He shrugged the man's comment off and started heading to the door.  
  
"Stake."  
  
"What now old man?"  
  
"You need a stake to kill the Vampire."  
  
Cian turned and leaned up against the door way. " Shootin' them is just so much better, I love to watch t'em squirm, smoke... Bleed."  
  
"This isn't for your recreation, this demon is killing innocent men and women."  
  
"Look here pa, I find the fanged bastard, I get to play with 'em, then I'll make sure he's dust. " Cian smirked. " I've killed plenty of Vampires, don't be pickin' at me." If there was one thing Cian couldn't stand it was people like him. Voicing their stupid little opinions when they had no idea what they were talking about, they should just shut up and let him do what he wanted.   
  
He took the ale next to his cot, pulled the cork from it, then drank a long swig of the crisp liquid, tossing it onto his bed once he had enough. "I'll be back for the rest of that." Cian smiled and laughed fairly loudly as he bounded out of the town and up a hillside, following a narrow dirt trail. "Course if I don't come back you better drank it yourself old man, you'll be needin' it."   
It was late in the day before Cian actually came across a house, it was rather small, containing only of three windows and a sharp wooden roof, the wooden boards that lined the walls had been warped drastically from the moist weather. He came to the door, knocked once, and from the force of the knock the door crept slowly open. Cian moved a pale hand to his side and took his pistol into hand, moving quietly inside.   
  
The house wasn't lit, but Cian could just barely make out a stone mantelpiece above a fireplace, maybe there was a candle there. He carefully moved towards it, stopping quickly as he heard something drag across the floor. He waited a long while before the dragging sound eventually faded away. He reached out, glaring down the dark side of the house he thought he heard the dragging from, his hand stumbled over the mantelpiece. His palm hit the side of a tin box and he cursed himself for being so careless, he waited silently, hearing a bit of movement from the direction of the dragging.   
  
Cian bit his lower lip as he carefully opened the tin box, feeling a rush of heat hit his palm. He lowered his hand into the box and grabbed a warm coal from it, luckily he had grabbed the coal with his gloved hand, not feeling the burn. He glided the warm coal towards a tall wax candle, feeling the flickers of flames burn his fingertips, the coal still very much lit. He touched the wick of the candle, it slowly lit the house. He stepped back from what he saw, Angel's voice ringing out from the once darkness, now a scene of intense gore.  
  
"Well, who do we have here?" Angel spoke with a grim smile, holding a long strand of blonde hair attached to a bleeding scalp. His victims lay about his feet, an old woman, her cats, and a young boy. The boy must have only been 8 at the most, blood spilling over his face, he was the one scalped.   
  
"Name's Cian, and what be your name, fangs?"  
  
'Angelus, but what does it really matter?" Angelus looked towards the ceiling and laughed for a short minute, locking his cold glare to Cian once more, his eyes a deep yellow. " You'll be dead soon enough." With a quick, fluid movement Angelus drove forward and clipped his fist into Cian's face, Cian hadn't expected the sudden attack and stumbled back, bashing against a wall. A portrait of the poor, now dead boy fell to the ground at Cian's feet. Cian growled and lashed out wildly, throwing a fist against Angelus's stomach, making sure to follow the punch up with a sharp kick to Angelus's ankle.  
  
Angelus cringed and bashed the back of his joined fists against Cian's spine, sending him falling forward. Angelus stepped away from Cian, rubbing his wrist. " Well aren't you the tough one. What are you? A demon ?"  
  
Cian pushed himself up, hooking his foot around Angelus's ankle and knocking him down, moving up onto his feet. Angelus growled lowly and started moving back up, Cian fired a shot from his pistol into the Vampire's shoulder. Angelus looked at the wound, smiled, then looked back up at Cian. "You're a fool, you know that?" Angelus laughed and stepped up. "Really now, bullets?" Angelus moved a hand to his shoulder, pressing his fingers into the bullet wound. He clenched his teeth and pulled the round piece of metal out from his muscle, dropping it to the ground. "Fight like a real man."  
  
"Shut your gob!" Cian sent his fist forward, Angelus quickly grabbed the Irish man's fist and moved his other hand around Cian's neck, lifting him up off his feet. Cian's pistol fell to the ground, he clenched one of Angelus's wrists but it was no use, he couldn't claw Angelus's hands off his throat. He gasped for air, but received none.   
  
Cian swung his foot forward into Angelus's crotch, Angelus quickly withdrew, holding his stomach and the side of his waist as he stumbled back. Cian fleetly scampered back and pressed his back against a wall, pushing himself up straight. He headed for the door just as Angelus started to speak.   
  
"Leaving so soon?"  
  
Cian grabbed his pistol and stopped momentarily in the doorway. " I promised some old man I'd kill you, I'm goin' to keep my promise."  
Cian, dressed in fresh clothes and smoothed combed hair sighed as he sat back on the cot. Kennedy was before him, looking as ancient and decrepit as ever. " I had to go, ye understand o' course?"  
  
The old man sluggishly sat back in his rocking chair, placing his hands on a wooden cane between his knees. " I understand that you've still got to kill him. " Cian placed his hands on the soft blankets and leaned back so his elbows were bracing him up. He thought for only a few minutes before he came up with something of a plan.  
  
"He's always goin' about with that bird, right? She's probably his Sire."  
  
"Yes, what about it?"  
  
Cian smiled and swiftly moved off the bed, grabbed his jacket, threw it over his shoulder and ran on outside. Of course, this time he had brought a stake. Shooting a Vampire wasn't any fun unless it really caused them pain. Angelus was a tricky one, a strong Vampire for sure, but Cian had no doubt in his mind that he could take care of him.  
  
He came to the house where he had found Angelus earlier, he wasn't there. The foul stench of death filled the tiny cabin, the stark white bodies still strewn about on the floor. Cian stayed in the doorway, watching the pale corpses, their lips never quivering, their eyes turned up to the sky blankly. What had they done to deserve this? He was about to sigh, but swallowed his breath as he felt a cold hand wrap around the back of his neck.  
  
Cian was easily thrown off of his feet and upside down into a small creek, he gasped and pushed himself up, then being thrown farther down stream. He hadn't seen his vicious attacker yet, but he had the idea it was Angelus.  
  
"You blow open me arm, and now you've come back, god, you mortals really are stupid." It was clearly Angelus's voice, he sounded plenty angry.   
  
Cian was tossed against the side of a grassy hill, arching his back as the wind was knocked out from him. Angelus took a shovel from the side of a weeping willow, moved over Cian, brought the shovel over his head, and just stopped the rusty blade inches before Cian's forehead as the hunter called out. "Wait! I've got sometin' to tell you."  
  
"What is it ten' ?"  
  
"I got a witch to perform a life tie, you kill me, everyone you sired, and the one who sired you will burst into flaming bits o' dust." Cian was of course lying.  
  
Angelus held the shovel in place, then slowly bringing it away. Cian sighed with relief just before Angelus slammed the back of the shovel against the side of Cian's head. He was knocked out cold. " Fool really thought I was just going to let him go. " Angelus laughed as he dragged Cian behind him, heading pass the carnage ridden cabin already struck by the Vampire.  
  
Cian awoke to the sounds of crashing waves, his body was tightly chained to a stone wall and before him was a large opening to the ocean. He was in some sort of cove, most likely right underneath the town he had promised to protect. The waves struck his ankles, and as time went by the waves rose to meet his waist. Cian struggled to get his hands free, just as he heard a low creak from his side.  
  
It was Angelus, he had opened a door located in the side of the rocky cave, smiling in his Vampire face as he leaned against the side of the doorway. It was sunset and Cian wished one last ray would just reach over and burn the sorry smirk off Angel's face, alas, the sun's rays were too weak to stretch into the cave.  
  
"I can't kill you, but there's nothing from letting me keep you here imprisoned."  
  
"I'll die eventually."   
  
"No, I've already taken care of that. See, once it's midnight, and the moon casts it's bright reflection on the ocean, you'll be frozen in place. Curse for a curse."  
  
Cian struggled one last time, pulling as hard as he could at the iron chains around his wrists, ankles, and waist. He growled and then slowly let go, giving up to the confines Angelus had placed onto him.   
  
"Hope you have a good eternity." Angelus gave a wicked smile and a little wave before closing the door tightly.   
  
The sun soon set, the starts started to appear in the sky, and Cian's heart raced faster than ever. There was nothing he could to prevent this, he was trapped, he couldn't even attempt to fight back. Eternity, well, it was better than dying. Maybe somehow he'd come back, the curse would break if Angelus died, right?  
2003 AD  
'Right now, I am an antichrist, and I am an anarchist, don't know what I want, but I know how to get it." Cian sang to the song blaring over the filthy radio in his old VolksWagen Karmann Ghia, stopping at a red light. "Dun duh dun dun duh." Cian tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as a new song started to play, listening to the song with the top of his head resting against the car window.  
  
He looked into the driver side mirror, the words reading " Objects may be closer than they appear" had been scratched off somehow. The images in it were blurry, but he could make out a car behind him rocking back as a man hit the side. A slender woman came forward and staked the man against the car, he exploded into dust. "Look at that, a Vampire." The girl placed the stake in one of her pants pockets just as two Vampires came from behind her and grabbed her arms, another latching onto her legs.   
  
Cian ran a hand through his blonde hair, watching the scene through the mirror. The girl struggled as one of the Vampires moved towards her neck, licking her neck up and down slowly, then growling and biting into her flesh. The girl's long brown curly hair bounced behind her as she gasped, trying desperately to get away. It was too late, she had fallen weak due to the loss of blood and started to fall into the Vampire's embrace.   
  
The Irish man mumbled a few curse words and stepped out of car, the Vampires darted their eyes towards the man, the woman's blood had stained all of their lips. She looked ghastly pale, she stared weakly at Cian, calling out for help with her deep brown eyes.   
  
"Come on lads, you got what you came for, blood, so leave the girl be."  
  
The Vampires laughed. "No, I think we'll keep her." The tallest of the male Vampires ran a rough hand down the girls cheek, her lips quivered from the unwanted touch. "She's so pretty. And she's a slayer, mm, her blood goes down so smooth."  
  
Cian moved a hand into his car and pulled out a cross from under his leather seat, walking forward to the Vampires, they scurried off into different directions, dropping the girl on the street. The bushes and trees on either side of the dark street shook as the Vampires growled and darted off into the shadows. Cian moved down and scooped the nearly dead girl into his arms, placing her in the back seat of his car, then getting into the driver's seat and starting up the car just as the Vampires decided to come back for the girl.  
  
Cian looked up into the rear view mirror, tilting it to see the girl in the back. She wore a short leather jacket, a white tank top and fairly tight leather pants. Could she really be a Slayer? Well, all was possible. If it was a Slayer, it was the first he'd ever seen. He leaned forward slightly and turned up the tape player. He drove south, pass thick redwood forests and even through the dreaded Sunnydale.   
  
There was barely anyone left in the town and it was a quick drive through it, he had heard various stories about the Hellmouth, demons, Vampires, all sorts of evil coming and nesting in the infamous city. He drove through Sunnydale, headed even farther down south, and by then the girl in the back had awaken.   
  
She groaned and rubbed the back of her neck, looking through the front window. It was daylight so the girl realized Cian wasn't a Vampire, but she was still a little confused. She picked up a Playboy magazine from 1978 and then tossed it back down with an arched brow.   
  
"Hey, yo, care explaining to me what I'm doing here?"  
  
"I saved your skin back there, the Fangs had nearly killed you."  
  
The supposed Slayer sat back in the chair and sighed, looking around the trashed car. " Hey, I could of taken care of myself. Yeah, well, anyways, what's your name?"  
  
"Cian. One of the Vampires was talkin' about you being a Slayer, is that true ?"  
  
"Yeah, that'd be me, Faith the Vampire Slayer." 


	2. Session 2 De Rigeuer

Notes: Since Buffy ended, we all know Spike's dead, so you'll have to bend the truth a bit. Also, in the story Faith never went back to Sunnydale, another fact you'll have to play with. The First and Caleb have been defeated anyhow.   
  
Emprise Session 2 - De Rigeuer  
  
Spike smirked and looked away from Buffy, pressed against a crypt wall while Angel kissed the side of her neck slowly. " Come on, can't you pick a better bloody time to do that? " The bleached blonde Vampire glared towards Angel, then towards Buffy, who quickly moved out from under Angel and grabbed a wooden stake she had placed on top of a tomb stone.  
  
"Just, you know, since Caleb's gone, and there hasn't been much evil... doing it's evil things, me and Angel, Angel and I, we've had time to actually be a couple."  
  
Spike could feel the jealousy rise up in him, but pushed it back. He'd had to push it back since the battle with the preacher and The First. Since then, Angel and Buffy had been together, kissing every chance they got, just right in front of Spike. Buffy had to know how he felt about her, he looked up at the night sky as Angel kissed Buffy's chin with a slight smile.  
  
"Come on, make with the kisses and lets-"  
  
"What's with you Spike ? I thought you'd be happy once The First left."  
  
"I've told you Spike, me and Angel are together, you've got to deal."  
  
"Got to deal.." Spike mumbled under his breath, pressing the tip of his wooden stake lightly against his palm. " I stayed here, fought with you and the scoobies, just for you, and this is how I get rightly repayed."  
  
"Spike, you helped save the world, that's what we've fought for."  
  
"Oh yeah, the world. Big festering orb of mortals and demons alike, great." Spike kept his eyes on the stake and leaned his back gently against a large grave stone behind him. Buffy shrugged slowly and slipped her arms around Angel's waist, kissing the front of his neck with a little smile.   
  
"Whatever you want to say Spike, there hasn't been any dangerous Vamps around here, no murders or anything to do with the occult, so I'm going to spend some time with Angel." Buffy smiled a little broader and kissed Angel once more, who quickly returned the sign of affection. " If I can stop the evil of all evil you're not going to bring me down. "  
  
Spike watched the two cuddle, hug tightly, then walk hand in hand away from the quiet cemetery. He waved his hand as if to bat a fly and placed an elbow on the top of the grave stone. " Bullocks.. " If he couldn't have Buffy, he wasn't going to stick around here and watch her smooch his grand-sire. " Bloody poof! Yeah, you heard me!" Spike threw a rock threw the graveyard and across the street Buffy and Angel had trekked over earlier. The rock hit a tree with a crack.  
  
Soon enough, Spike had ventured through the worser parts of Sunnydale, which were now deserted, and made his way into a storage complex. "Damn Angel... Least she's happy." Spike fumbled with a lock, growled and tore it from the large door it was keeping secure. He lifted the door upwards and let the dim light from the moon light up his filthy De Sota, the car he had arrived in Sunnydale with.   
  
He ran a hand up the side of the hood and brought the keys out for the car from his left duster pocket, slipping them into the partially rusted lock and opening the door. He pressed the golden key into the ignition as he got comfortable in the leather seat behind the wheel, being back in the old car made him feel somewhat nostalgic. He blew off the feelings as he leaned forward and grabbed a beer bottle from underneath the passenger seat, drinking all but half of the beer before he started up the car and sped out into the Sunnydale highway.   
  
"So, what's your story?"  
  
Faith glared towards Cian, looked out the small window and sighed. " Sort of had a run in with the "original" slayer, we were five by five until I went off and tried to kill her. "   
  
"Yeah, and?"  
  
Faith found herself surprised at how calm the man remained, escorting a rouge slayer around after a fight gone array with Vampires wasn't something to be at peace with. " This guy, Angel, he told me that I needed to get back on track. He couldn't help me though, so I bailed and went up to some.. Some Zen Buddhist temple hell hold, got my inner psycho under control and here I am."  
  
Time went by slowly, Cian didn't say a word, just tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as the scenery around them grew more and more extravagant. The sidewalks were being laid down in an adobe brick color, trees were being planted next to them, and farther behind them buildings were being constructed.   
  
Cian drove through a large tunnel, moving slowly due to all the cars around him. Once out of the dark tunnel Faith placed her arms on the top of either chair and peered forward, her hair brushing against Cian's. The city before them was unlike any other; marble statues built in the ancient Greek style were placed at either side of the exit of the tunnel, blossoming cherry trees blew gently in the wind on the cobblestone sidewalks. The buildings looked to have been taken right out of Venice, some tall and some short, packed tightly together. Lines of laundry were strung from one building to the other across the busy highway, how they managed to sting such a long rope of clothes over such packed streets Faith had no idea.   
  
Various flags, which reminded Faith of the Tibetan prayer flags back at the monastery, were also strung over the streets. Shops selling varieties of goods from different countries were all too common, the shop windows displaying things Faith had never even imagined real. Magic shops were also quite common, but one thing Faith didn't see in the city, which she didn't really mind, was a church. "It's called Charlotte." Cian finally spoke, but Faith was all too busy gawking at the city to notice.  
  
"It was built just recently, I have no idea just how it came to pass, but they're still constructing more and more around it. Must be taking a lot to fund it." Cian's accent had dramatically changed since his "earlier" years, it was still easy to hear the Dublin tongue though.  
  
"Yeah, whatever." All the people of the city, some were wearing more modern clothes, but for the most part they seemed fond of wearing older clothes, much older clothes. Some of the woman wore vintage dresses cut fresh of rich velvets, others wore dark cloaks that covered their faces. Faith swore that about each one of the men and women she could spot were speaking different languages. Others simply had heavy accents, which gave them the impression of speaking another language in the loud crowd.  
  
Cian drove the car slowly off the road and into the front lawn of a brick building, he rubbed the top of his nose, right between his eyes and sighed. " Been driving out here for days, feels good to finally be home." Faith pushed Cian forward suddenly as she opened the side door and let herself out, Cian smirked and clenched the sides of the steering wheel as his head was pushed forward into the horn.   
  
Faith came to the door and tried turning the knob, locked. She started to turn it, using her slayer strength to break the lock, no luck. Whoever had constructed the locking mechanism had built it so strongly even she couldn't tear it apart. The door also had a small barred window near the top, Faith looked down at the knob and saw two bronze dead bolts above it. "Geez, what's with all the security?"  
  
Cian came out from behind her with a ring of keys, unlocking the door quickly and pushing the thick wooden door open, revealing a sheet of iron between the two planks of wood making up the exterior of the door. " You can stay here if you like Faith, I can sleep on the couch." The couch he was speaking of, which was sitting in front of an old, still running Television was over piled with magazines and books, a spring also came out from the side of the brown leather sofa.  
  
"Sure, I'll crash here." Faith made her way into the house and looked down at one of the various magazines sitting under a dusty lamp. "Huh. You into old cars?" Cian shut the door and locked the three locks tightly and quickly. " No, not really, just brushing up on stuff I missed."   
  
"Stuff you missed?"  
  
Cian put the keys in his jacket pocket, then set the jacket over the pile of magazines on the couch. He fell back into a recliner and propped his feet up, sighing. " Yih, I was frozen for something hundred years."  
  
"You're a demon? Could of fooled me."  
  
"No, not a demon." Cian reached down to the ground, Faith searched the table behind her for something she could use as a weapon if this guy was looking for one too. "Demon hunter actually." Cian's hand came back with the TV remote, changing the channel over to a group of men practically beating each other while chasing after a white ball.   
  
"Yeah, so, how'd it happen?"  
  
"A Vampire, Angelus, I was going to get rid of him until he captured me and locked me up in some grotto on the Irish coast. He cursed me rightly good, I was there for more than three-hundred years, frozen in place, didn't age a bit though." Cian raised the TV remote up and moved it counter clockwise in the air. "But you know, the world changed without me, so that explains all the magazines."  
  
"So what, the curse just broke off after a few hundred years?"  
  
"No, a witch who never did give me her name, she freed me, told me that I had some greater purpose I had to pursue. A part of the curse still remained that she couldn't break though."  
  
"Oh yeah, what's that?"  
  
"I don't age, well, not until I kill another demon. Angelus still got what he wanted, I can't kill, he knows I wont."  
  
"'bout Angelus.. He's a good guy now, he's got a soul."  
  
"Yeah, the witch filled me in on that."  
  
"So when did you come back to the "real world"?"  
  
"Nixon was president, The Beetles were making a pretty penny, 1972." Cian laughed softly and set his feet back on the ground, sitting up with a smile. " You don't know how hard it was to order a cappuccino in Gaelic. "  
  
"So you're from Scotland or something?"  
  
"Ireland, didn't spend much time in one place though. I was born in Genorma Valley near Killaloe, left and spent much of my youth in Dublin. "  
  
"Yeah, that's interesting. "  
  
Spike brought the car to a stop in a gas station parker lot. The gas station was surrounded by a desert, a cactus growing directly by the large "7-11" sign. The blonde Vampire tossed a quarter up and down on his palm as he walked into the mini-mart, located under a large rusted roof. He stashed the spare change into his pocket and went to the magazine stands.   
  
"Huh.. Haven't seen ones that big, 'cept for on that Succubus." Spike smiled faintly, looking over the magazines, which were mostly ones you had to be over 18 to buy. He sighed and moved away from the magazine rack, bumping shoulders with a group of black clad men. One of them took the time to look back at Spike, only to raise his middle finger to him.   
  
Spike shook his head as he walked to the counter. "I'll take a pack of gum and whatever you call those blue sludge things." The Chinese man behind the counter put a pack of yellow gum on the counter, turning and putting a cup under the slushie machine. A light shone into the mini-mart through the front windows, Spike took a piece of the gum out of the packet as he looked to the source of the light.  
  
"Oh shit, they found us."  
  
"You said that we lost them."  
  
"I didn't know, okay? They must of caught up with us in Death Valley.."  
  
"I told you there was three trucks! What the fuck are we going to do?!"  
  
Spike watched the group of men yell at each other, he placed a strip of the gum in his mouth and turned to look at the slushie machine. The cup had overflowed and the thick blue liquid was all over the floor. " Hey, think you might wanna turn that off. " Spike didn't see the cashier until he looked over the counter to see his body sprawled out on the floor. His flesh was pale, a round red hole in the center of his forehead. His blood slowly crept across the floor and mixed with the blue liquid from the machine. Oddly alluring to Spike.   
  
He caught his senses once the lights from outside shown brighter, a barrage of arrows flying through the windows and striking one of the men down. He exploded into dust, the others scattered out around the mini-mart, hiding behind whatever they could find. Spike hopped behind the counter, leaning against it as he swallowed the gum. "Nothing ever goes my bloody way." Heavy foot steps could be heard rushing into the small market, Spike heard mechanical clicks, the light from outside faded away, and he decided he'd stand back up.  
  
He placed his hands on the counter top, slowly bringing himself back onto his feet. He didn't see anyone else in the market, shards of broken glass were scattered everywhere, milk and soda spilling out onto the floor from where arrows had hit them. He heard another mechanical click and tried to yell as he felt a sharp pain go through his chest, then spread throughout his body. He felt as though his veins were on fire, was he going to die? His head was pressed against the counter top, cutting his cheek open on a shard of glass. He couldn't feel it, the pain pulsing in his chest was numbing his body.  
  
Spike barely felt hands on his wrists, the numbness slowly causing him to loose feel of his entire body and everything he touched, someone placed iron clasps around his wrists and pushed him along outside and through the gas station. A cold wisp of wind hit him, he couldn't feel it as he was pressed against the side of a large paddy wagon.   
  
"There was one more still in there."  
  
"Just throw him in the back."   
  
Spike couldn't see who was talking, he could tell that they were men from the deep sound of their voices. He was brought to two black doors, they opened to reveal most of the men he had seen inside the mini-mart, all cuffed to the side of the walls. Spike was taken and latched to the walls as well, his head fell forward and his lips parted as the numbness reached it's peak in his body. The doors slammed shut and the vehicle started up with a low hum.   
  
Spike's eyes slowly eased open, the numb feeling in his body had passed, which he was grateful for. The Vampires around him were still asleep, or knocked out, one of the two. He tried standing but it was no use, the cuffs around his wrist kept him locked to the walls. After a few minutes the paddy wagon came to a stop, there wasn't any windows so it was impossible for Spike to have any idea where they were. He didn't even know how long he was out for. One thing he was certain of, his body was yearning blood.  
  
The doors opened, revealing the star filled night sky. The man who had opened the door was layered down in armor, a thick sheet of metal around his neck to prevent Vampire bites. Tiny tubes ran up the man's armor, Spike had seen something like it before, the tubes were filled with holy water so if the man was bitten... Well, the unlucky Vampire wouldn't have much a tongue to talk with. The man placed a tiny device against Spike's cheek, cutting the scratch he had received from the glass before.   
  
The man, which Spike figured to be some sort of soldier backed up, looking at the small device. His eyes, which were behind red goggles, looked over Spike. The cuffs on Spike's wrists unlocked quickly, he automatically went to rubbing his left wrist. " So much for manners. "  
  
"You have a soul, correct ?"  
  
Spike looked up at the soldier, rubbing his wrist still. " Yeah, what about it?"  
  
"Leave."  
  
"Don't have to ask me twice.. " Spike stood up, walking to the end of the paddy wagon and jumping onto the ground. The soldier had a patch on his shoulder reading, "Lament Corp.", most likely another form of the Initiative. The paddy wagon sped off quickly, even before Spike could look back at it.   
  
Spike looked before him, seeing a large tunnel with golden letters spelling out "Charlotte" above it. He shrugged and pulled his duster closer around his neck, walking into the dark tunnel and towards the massive city. 


End file.
